Last modified: 31 Jul 2023 11:19
Between 1909 and 1929, Serge Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes staged a series of theatrical productions which combined music, movement and visual art in ways that were to have an unprecedented influence on every aspect of artistic life in western Europe and the Americas. Focusing on ten representative ballets, this course explores the creative collaborations between composers, choreographers, artists, dancers and musicians, including such key figures as Stravinsky, Debussy, Picasso, Chanel, Nijinsky and Massine. The course approaches the topic from interdisciplinary angles.
| Study Type | Undergraduate | Level | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Term | First Term | Credit Points | 30 credits (15 ECTS credits) |
| Campus | Aberdeen | Sustained Study | No |
| Co-ordinators |
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This course explores the kaleidoscopic artistic activity of Ballets Russes over the twenty years of its existence from 1909. Under the inspired management of the Russian impresario Serge Diaghilev, this loosely-knit community of composers, choreographers, artists, dancers and musicians created a repertoire of ballets which changed the direction not only of dance, but of all of Western music, art, and popular culture. The company’s performances across western Europe and the Americas were attended by a cross-section of society, from retailers to royalty, and from pharmacists to philosophers. Always innovative, and often controversial, the Ballets Russes were received with popular acclaim and critical displeasure in equal measure – and one production was the cause of the most famous riot in theatrical history.
Primitivism, Fauvism, cubism, Dadaism, neoclassicism and ultra-modernism all entered the public consciousness through the activity of the Ballets Russes. The company launched the international careers of Igor Stravinsky, Manuel de Falla, Pablo Picasso, Coco Chanel, Natalia Gontcharova, Vaslav Nijinsky, Tamara Karsavina, Léonide Massine, Bronislava Nijinska and George Balanchine. Other collaborators included Debussy, Ravel, Satie, Poulenc, Milhaud, Braque, Laurencin, Miró, Derain, Fokine and Rambert.
This course investigates the history of the Ballets Russes from its origins in the exhibitions of Russian art staged by Serge Diaghilev in Paris in 1906, through to the troupe’s populist heyday in the technological and hedonistic world of the 1920s. It does this through the study of ten representative ballets, five of them with music by Stravinsky. These are:
– The Firebird (Stravinsky/Fokine/Bakst/Golovin/Gontcharova)
– Petrushka (Stravinsky/Fokine/Benois)
– The Rite of Spring (Stravinsky/Nijinsky/Roerich)
– Jeux (Debussy/Nijinsky/Bakst)
– Parade (Satie/Massine/Picasso)
– The Three-Cornered Hat (Falla/Massine/Picasso)
– Pulcinella (Stravinsky/Massine/Picasso)
– Les noces (Stravinsky/Nijinska/Gontcharova)
– Les biches (Poulenc/Nijinska/Laurencin)
– Le train bleu (Milhaud/Nijinska/Chanel/Picasso)
Most of the ballets will be viewed as video recordings in timetabled showings.
On this course, you will explore processes of creative collaboration between artists working in different media. You will investigate questions of artistic confection and authenticity, and will consider how the activity of the Ballets Russes was defined by the personal characteristics of its creators and audiences: a story in which gender, sexuality, politics and nationality all play a part. You will interrogate the meanings of ballet as a form of theatre, and will experience some of the finest artworks of the twentieth century.
The course is suitable for students of Music or Film & Visual Culture. Whatever your main subject, you will bring your own disciplinary expertise to the discussion. You do not need to be experienced in the study of both subjects to take this course.
Information on contact teaching time is available from the course guide.
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 80 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | 18 | Feedback Weeks | 21 | |
| Feedback |
A 4000-word essay on a question chosen from a list of at least 5 proposed by the course tutor in the first week of teaching. Feedback will be provided on MyAberdeen. |
Word Count | 4000 | |
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Conceptual | Understand | Understanding the historical importance of the Ballet Russes and its repertoire. |
| Procedural | Analyse | Analysing collaborative creative processes across music, dance and visual art as evinced in the repertoire and activity of the Ballets Russes |
| Procedural | Evaluate | Evaluating the roles of creators and audiences personal characteristics (nationality, gender, sexual orientation, etc.) in their artistic contributions and interactions. |
| Procedural | Evaluate | Critiquing the influence of the Ballets Russes across multiple art forms and cultural manifestations. |
| Reflection | Create | Producing eloquent and well-crafted contributions to scholarly debate on the Ballets Russes and their legacy. |
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 20 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | 14 | Feedback Weeks | 17 | |
| Feedback |
A 15-minute presentation on a topic of the student’s choice, arising out of the course topic. Presentations should not address specific topics or repertoire studied in detail during seminars, and so students are advised to consult with the course tutor when choosing a topic. |
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| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Conceptual | Understand | Understanding the historical importance of the Ballet Russes and its repertoire. |
| Procedural | Analyse | Analysing collaborative creative processes across music, dance and visual art as evinced in the repertoire and activity of the Ballets Russes |
| Reflection | Create | Producing eloquent and well-crafted contributions to scholarly debate on the Ballets Russes and their legacy. |
There are no assessments for this course.
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 100 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | Feedback Weeks | |||
| Feedback | Word Count | 5000 | ||
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Conceptual | Understand | Understanding the historical importance of the Ballet Russes and its repertoire. |
| Procedural | Analyse | Analysing collaborative creative processes across music, dance and visual art as evinced in the repertoire and activity of the Ballets Russes |
| Procedural | Evaluate | Evaluating the roles of creators and audiences personal characteristics (nationality, gender, sexual orientation, etc.) in their artistic contributions and interactions. |
| Procedural | Evaluate | Critiquing the influence of the Ballets Russes across multiple art forms and cultural manifestations. |
| Reflection | Create | Producing eloquent and well-crafted contributions to scholarly debate on the Ballets Russes and their legacy. |
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Procedural | Evaluate | Critiquing the influence of the Ballets Russes across multiple art forms and cultural manifestations. |
| Procedural | Analyse | Analysing collaborative creative processes across music, dance and visual art as evinced in the repertoire and activity of the Ballets Russes |
| Procedural | Evaluate | Evaluating the roles of creators and audiences personal characteristics (nationality, gender, sexual orientation, etc.) in their artistic contributions and interactions. |
| Reflection | Create | Producing eloquent and well-crafted contributions to scholarly debate on the Ballets Russes and their legacy. |
| Conceptual | Understand | Understanding the historical importance of the Ballet Russes and its repertoire. |
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